PISTONS NOTES: Pistons have multiple options in crunch time

Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe (10) drives to the basket against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

AUBURN HILLS -- The Pistons don't have a go-to scorer, which can be a positive or negative depending on how you look at it.

The positive is the other team doesn't know who the Pistons are going to go to down the stretch, but the negative is either do the Pistons.

"I think what happens is, our guys know on any given night we're going with the hot hand or it could be a matchup," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "Look at (the) Cleveland game, Brandon (Knight) was the hot hand, but out of a timeout I put the ball in Rodney (Stuckey's) hands just because I liked the direction of the matchup and the attack, where we wanted to go with it.

Advertisement

"It's not always going to be one guy," Frank added. "It could be based on who has a game going, who has the right matchup, right situation. That's what we're going to play through."

In 24 games this season, the Pistons (7-17) have had seven different players lead them in scoring.

Knight has lead the team in scoring the most (11 times), while Greg Monroe is second (nine times).

Frank said his job is to read the game, but it's also a great opportunity for players to step up and become comfortable performing in crunch time.

"Sometimes those situations can impact a guy," Frank said. "You start speeding up a little bit. ... It's being in those moments and relishing and living in those moments. You have to embrace it. That's the part of mentality and approach. You can't fear failure. You have to try to do it on your terms. Sometimes you miss good shots, you just can't get sped up or let time and score dictate the pace you go at."

Tired legs

Tuesday's game was the Pistons fourth in five nights. Detroit has played 24 games so far this season, the most in the NBA. No other team has played more than 22.

"I know guys are tired, but you have to stay professional and just try to come ready to play," Corey Maggetter said. "Our guys really do a great job of trying to come ready to play."

"It's been a tough stretch, but no I didn't really see any tired legs," Kyle Singler said after Tuesday's game. "It was more of a mental game for us tonight. We came out ready to play. The score showed it. I wouldn't say we were tired at all."

Losing new to Singler

Singler won a national championship at Duke and during his one season overseas helped Real Madrid win the 2012 Spanish King's Cup.

In other words, losing is new to Singler. The Pistons have lost 17 games so far this season. Singler lost 24 games total in four years at Duke.

"You have to stay positive," Singler said. "There's going to be tough times wherever you go sometimes. ... Losing like this is tough, but it shows who you are and if you're willing to change, and put forth the necessary effort to get better."

Dave Pemberton covers the Pistons for The Oakland Press. Email him at dave.pemberton@oakpress.com and follow him on Twitter @drpemberton.